Man, sometimes it is so hard to get started. Some posts I plan days ahead. I always have a few that are in development – the photos, what I’m going to write about, or both.

But some days . . .

Today, I’m waiting for some ideas to germinate. Working on some angles. Letting the Muse do her thing.

So, what can I do? I’ve promised myself I will write daily.

I’ll ramble.

I live right next to the end of the airport runway in Madang. I’ve gotten so used to the noise of the aircraft taking off and landing that I don’t notice it any more. This morning, when I stepped out on the lawn I had just enough time to snap this shot of an Air Niugini jet on approach:

Quite a few years ago, an Air Niugini F-28 skidded off the runway in front of my house during a severe thunderstorm. These things happen all the time, you know – nobody’s fault.

Anyway, we were all out gaily snapping photos. Nobody was hurt in the incident. One wing was still up on the ground, so everybody just walked up the wing and jumped off. The party atmosphere changed to a bit of confrontation when the cops showed up telling us that we couldn’t take photos. Those of us with boats simply ignored them.

Later on, some Air Niugini guys showed up and started painting out the logo on the tail and the fuselage. I was one of the few who got shots before this ridiculous attempt to pretend that it wasn’t an Air Niugini plane.

Then somebody (I deny, deny, deny, but if I did, I didn’t inhale.) spoofed up this advertisement for Sea Niugini:

It’s a little blurry because it’s been carefully massaged to make it look like it was received as a highly compressed JPG that had been passed around a lot. Who could blame the creator? One wouldn’t want to have the original, pristine version on one’s computer. What if the Thought Police showed up?

I humbly suggest that ecological movements everywhere adopt this image as an icon symbolizing the need for a plan to save the planet:

That’s not too much to ask, is it?

Finally, I found this tiny little cave in a rock. It’s all full of cool green moss and tasty-looking Elf cabbage:

If you know of any little people who are looking for a cheap flat, send them my way. I have a deal for them. Please keep in mind that space in limited – it’s only about 6cm wide.

Я увижу вас завтра. *

* I might throw in a parting shot in another language at any time. If you want to see what it says, first figure out what language it is (probably Russian above), copy it, and paste it intoBablefish. Choose the correct “somelanguage” to English selection and decode the message.